Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Gyles Walker, Co-op: Back to Business Q&A

Published: 27 August, 2020

As the trade measures up to extraordinary times and swings through summer, leading businesses and operators take stock of trading conditions in the new normal.

Investing for the Future webinar: Sign up now

Published: 26 August, 2020

In the latest from Harpers Wine & Spirit’s popular series of lockdown webinars, we will be putting a spotlight on the ways businesses can ensure long-term sustainable growth.

Mark Roberts, Lanchester Wines: Back to Business Q&A

Published: 26 August, 2020

As the trade measures up to extraordinary times and looks ahead beyond summer, leading operators take stock of doing business in the new normal.

Jerry Lockspeiser: What happens next?

Published: 26 August, 2020

One of the many reasons people like working in the wine trade is the sense of common bond. Trade outsiders may doubt how friendly people who are direct competitors can really be. But they often are. People can’t help liking and respecting each other. The bonhomie that wine engenders helps, as does admiration for the labour, love, and sheer dedication of those who make the stuff. From producers to distributors, retailers, and communicators, an unstated feeling of shared mission is in the air. Now, too, the trenches spirit that comes with having backs against the wall.

Jackson Family acquires Giant Steps Winery

Published: 25 August, 2020

Jackson Family Wines has acquired Yarra Valley winery Giant Steps for an undisclosed sum.

Portfolio boosts for Bibendum

Published: 24 August, 2020

Bibendum has added a further new agency to its portfolio, boosting its Italian range aimed at the independent merchant and on-trade sectors.

Graft bolsters Australia and South African portfolios as it gears up for digital tasting

Published: 24 August, 2020

Graft Wine, last year’s merger of Red Squirrel and The Knotted Vine, is gearing up for a bumper month of activity in September, with two Southern Hemisphere additions joining the company as it takes its autumn tasting online.

Bid for Beirut auction organises relief for Lebanon

Published: 24 August, 2020

A new auction to provide much-needed relief for Lebanon’s struggling wine sector has drawn support from the UK wine trade, after a massive explosion decimated the country’s main port on 4 August.

Q&A: Sam Owens, founder, Thirsty Cambridge

Published: 24 August, 2020

With his iconoclastic and straight-talking approach, Sam Owens walks Andrew Catchpole through life as a moreishly modern indie

California Wine country eludes Hennessy fire

Published: 20 August, 2020

California’s wine country has so far been spared the wrath of the latest wildfires, which broke out in the northern part of the state on Monday.

Slow return for consumer confidence

Published: 20 August, 2020

Consumer confidence with regard to eating and drinking out dipped in the UK in July as the reality of an altered hospitality landscape sank in.

Wine online jumps 238% at Waitrose

Published: 20 August, 2020

Waitrose had reported a significant boost to its online wine sales as consumers take advantage of a “wider selection” of wine online during lockdown.

On ‘Clean’ wine – ambiguity among the vines

Published: 20 August, 2020

Wine is an odd consumable. It’s a drug, it isn’t legally required to list ingredients, and it’s often described with vague, ambiguous terms. In the wake of the natural wine movement and the age of ‘wellness’, it was just a matter of time until a brand tried to hoodwink us. Quickest to the mark were Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power with ‘clean wine’, Avaline.

Wines of Germany launches £65k retailer partnership fund

Published: 19 August, 2020

Wines of Germany has launched a campaign offering financial support to smaller and medium-size retailers in the UK for the promotion of German wines to consumers.

Broadland Drinks reports increase in pre-tax profit

Published: 19 August, 2020

Broadland Drinks has reported an increase in pre-tax profit to £2.9m for the year ending 31 March 2020, up from £2m the previous year.

Supermarket BWS sales stay strong

Published: 19 August, 2020

Sales of beer, wine and spirits (BWS) through supermarkets increased 20% in the past four weeks, while total grocery sales slowed down.

Bibendum adds Bodegas Mustiguillo

Published: 19 August, 2020

Bibendum Wines has added Valencian wine producer Bodegas Mustiguillo to its on-trade and Walker & Wodehouse portfolios.

Hallgarten supports on-trade with £700k worth of free wine

Published: 19 August, 2020

Hallgarten & Novum Wines has announced it will be supporting the hospitality sector in September with over 100,000 glasses of wine provided free of charge.